


Takes Me Away

by forever_and_always



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Babies, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Photography, fall fluff, retired jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 06:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13047993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forever_and_always/pseuds/forever_and_always
Summary: Bitty hasn't been able to visit Georgia for years, not with three children under the age of six and a husband still in the NHL. But things change, life moves on, and the Zimmerman-Bittles take the opportunity of a quiet Sunday afternoon in the fall to have a little fun together.





	Takes Me Away

**Author's Note:**

> This is incredibly self-indulgent and not at all based the actual school I attend or things I've personally witnessed lmao. Title from 1957 by Milo Greene bc it's been stuck in my head for days. I'm also not ready for these upcoming updates,,,,
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Bitty burrowed deeper into Jack’s side where there they were snuggled closed together on the couch in his parents living room. It wasn’t the same one from his childhood, that one was replaced with a different one when his parents downsized and moved closer to Atlanta. It was just as comfortable, he supposed, especially after chasing around his three small children all morning while juggling a phone call with his press agent. Bitty could still claim paternity leave for a few more weeks, and was planning to take advantage of every second of it before having to worry about a second book tour. 

Eventually Claire had fallen asleep on her playmat on the carpeted floor after tiring herself out trying to get a handled on crawling. The two older girls, Maddie and Evie had dozed off in their grandpa’s lap waiting to watch sunday afternoon football, though they were a little too young to understand the activity’s importance in the Bittle household. The house had finally fallen quiet in the after lunch lull, and right now Bitty just really wanted to keep his eyes closed and enjoy soaking up the never ending warmth from his husband. 

His plans were spoiled by an gentle elbow nudging his ribs. 

“Bitty,” Jack whispered. His husband’s breath was warm against his cheek.

Bitty chose to ignore Jack had said anything. 

The nudge came again, followed by a louder, “Bits.” 

He begrudgingly cracked an eye open. Jack looked too amused for his own good. 

“Honey?” 

“We should visit that college your cousin was talking about today.” 

“Jack, our oldest child isn’t even five yet. I think we can wait awhile to start visiting colleges.” Bitty didn’t even want to think about his daughters growing up anymore than they already were. It seemed like just yesterday they brought Evie home, and he dreaded the day the girls began to resist his affection. 

“No, to take pictures,” Jack respond. “She kept telling your mom how pretty the campus is when the leaves change color in the fall.” 

Bitty shifted to rest his head against Jack’s shoulder. “Hmm, it would be nice to get a jump on holiday cards this year.” 

“Maybe we could walk there too? It’s not very far and afterwards I thought-”

“Sure, sweetpea.” Bitty loving pat his husband’s chest and re-burrowed himself into Jack and the couch. “But let’s let everyone have their naps, and we can go before the sun gets too low.” 

\---

 

When the girls woke up from their nap, Jack herded the older two upstairs to get them changed while Bitty packed up the stroller and diaper bag. Suzanne more than willingly jumped at volunteering to give Claire a bottle. She was always a very cuddly baby after just waking up, and it never failed to melt his heart to see his parents dote on his daughters. By the Bitty finished double checking he hadn’t forgotten everything, Jack came lumbering down the stairs with a toddler on each hip, the two girls dressed festively and warmly, and had matching braided pigtails. Jack had also changed out of the threadbare t-shirt he had been wearing earlier. 

He playfully dumped the girls on the couch, and the living room was filled with their sweet giggles. 

“Did you grab an new outfit for Claire?” Bitty asked ask Evie and Maddie attempted to climb back into Jack’s arms like the little monkeys they were. Though Maddie being years younger than her older sister made her a lot less coordinated. 

Jacked freeded an arm and tossed Bitty a neated folded square of blue. “Of course.”

“We are not dressing the baby in a Falconers jersey, no matter how adorable she looks in it.”

Now Suzanne was the one laughing. “Does this poor child have anything that’s not sports related?” she asked. She had moved onto burping Claire against her shoulder and gestured to the heather grey Falconers onesie she was already outfitted in. 

“Yes, Mama,” replied Bitty. He rolled his eyes lovingly at his husband. “Jack just likes to think he’s funny.” 

Bitty could see the creases around Jack’s eyes and mouth deepen when he smiled in amusement. He pulled out a sweater set hidden in his back pocket. “You know me too well, Bits.”

With one last potty trip and diaper change, and a send off from Suzanne and Coach, the family made it outside with plenty of hours left before it would get to dark outside. Bitty had to admit it was the perfect day for a family outing. The streets of the neighborhood were quiet for it being a Sunday afternoon. The air was chillier than normal for Georgia, but it felt nice in the sun. 

Evie and Maddie chatted happily with each other from where they were strapped into the double stroller, forming a nonsensical story interspersed with bursts of made up songs and switching between languages. They were usually good about not fighting being put in the stroller, but Bitty was still thankful the two girls were in an agreeable mood. 

Jack carried their youngest in a sling across his front since she was still in snuggle mode, and it gave him enough mobility to take pictures as they walked. 

As Jack mentioned, the college wasn’t very far from this parents’ house and from what Bitty could tell, the campus was tiny. The old buildings had an aesthetic attractiveness to them, and there was a surprising amount of green quad areas and golden trees given the total size of the campus. 

There weren’t a lot of students out given the day of the week and proximity to finals week, lessing the chance of them being bothered. Though Atlanta hadn’t been a hockey city in decades, and both Zimmermann and Bittle were publicly known names, Bitty savoured all the privacy he could get, especially for his children. 

They leisurely followed the many brick paved paths through the campus. Bitty heard the shutter of Jack’s camera occasionally go off, and when leaves fell close to the stroller, tiny hands shot up to catch them. 

“I like it here,” Jack said indicating to a particularly green patch of grass perfectly accented by trees with bright, fiery leaves. 

Bitty handed Jack an old family quilt to place on the ground, and worked to unbuckle Evie and Maddie as Jack laid Claire on her stomach on the blanket. She had gotten good at pushing herself up with her arms, but adding forward momentum that resembled crawling in anyway still evaded her. 

Evie hopped out of her seat the moment she was free and ran around their small staked out space a few time to release the pent up energy she always seemed to have. Their friends and parents liked to comment that one day she would grow to be even faster than Bitty. 

Maddie, who always wanted to do everything her older sister did, followed quickly after Bitty helped her out of the stroller. She was fine for the first half circle until she hit the spot just out of both Jack and Bitty’s reach where the lawn had a slight decline. His middle child suddenly lost her balance, and he braced for the inevitable tears. Luckily they never came. The well manicured lawn soften the impact, and Maddie ended up a little started from the fall. She was distracted from the event too with the discovery of her new closer proximity to crunchy leaves. 

Bitty picked her up, brushed her off, and sent her in Jack’s direction so his husband could get their three girls arranged on the blanket for a photo. Evie and Maddie loved to pose for their papa when he was taking photos and followed the patient directions Jack gave them in French, and Claire happily showed off her first tooth and wasn’t fussy about being repeatedly picked up and set down. 

If Bitty focused solely on Jack, he could pretend for a moment they were fifteen years in the past when they first began their relationship. Jack would bring his camera and together they would take slow walks through Samwell or Providence, allowing themselves the moment to just breathe. Jack was so handsome back then, and he still was, grey hairs and all. 

So much has changed since then. There was graduation, figuring out the future, the difficulty of coming out his parents. And looming over everything was hockey and the risk of being outed. He and Jack, though, survived it all as a team. They got married and were happy, successful in their own ways. 

Years passed and when things finished settling, they decided to expand their family. Bitty always loved kids when he was younger, spending countless summers as a camp counselor, and he knew Jack loved them too. But he for a long time he had be afraid to imagine a future with him and Jack as parents. One day they were faced with the chance, and after late nights and many conversations, they decided to take it and were blessed with with Evie. Bitty couldn’t have guessed they would be blessed with Maddie and Claire too. 

“What do you think, Bits?” Jack’s words snapped Bitty back to the present. 

“Yes, honey?”

“I was asking for your opinion, but it seems you got preoccupied.” 

“Oh hush.” Bitty stood and knelt by Jack’s side. “I was just reminded of how much I love you.” 

Jack leaned in close, giving Bitty a kiss on the temple and another one at the corner of his lips. “Love you too, bud, but I still need an answer before the girls wiggle around too much.” 

Maddie and Evie were seated shoulder to shoulder with their heads titled together and their arms protectively encircling Claire squished in between them. 

Bitty felt his teeth ache from how sweet the whole thing was. He smiled at Jack and looked back at his daughters. “They’re perfect.”


End file.
